A U.S. delegation has departed for North Korea to assess the need for food aid to the impoverished country.Robert King, the special envoy for human rights issues in North Korea, left with aides from Seoul on Tuesday. The five-day visit is the first to North Korea by any U.S. officials in 17 months.
North Korea has been pressing for a resumption of six-nation talks on its nuclear programs. But the United States says King's only mission is to evaluate claims that North Korea is in dire need of food assistance, and to see whether the delivery of aid can be effectively monitored.United Nations agencies say more than a quarter of North Korea's 23 million people are in urgent need of food aid and that reserves will soon begin to run out. But some officials in South Korea believe the North is exaggerating its needs in order to stockpile food for next year's 100th anniversary of the birth of founder Kim Il Sung.